Daughter of the Mist
by SpeechBubbleMe
Summary: Hecate, the Goddess of Magic, Sorcery, and Witchcraft. Also the Goddess of the Crossroads, of Necromancy, and most importantly, the Mist. Unfortunately, (that depends on the day, really) she also happens to be my mother. I am Arian Black, and this is my story about the rise of the Titans, the quest before the son of Poseidon, and most importantly, the fall of Luke Castellan.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 **Hello everyone, SpeechBubbleMe here! Welcome to my new story, Daughter of the Mist. For those of you who didn't read the summary (I should probably assume that you did and found it somewhat interesting or else you wouldn't be reading, but I digress) this is my very first Percy Jackson and the Olympians fanfiction! This is to be a Luke Castellan x OC fanfiction, which starts about two years before the events of the Lightning Thief and includes old and new characters. Also, if you're interested in reading Star Wars fanfiction, I have one posted called Across the Stars, the first segment of which is completely posted.**

 **Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan, the poncy twit, who doesn't seem to write as fast as I love to read his books...**

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Hecate, the Goddess of Magic, Sorcery, and Witchcraft. Also the Goddess of the Crossroads, of Necromancy, and most importantly, the Mist. The ancient Greeks associated her with the dark side of the moon, the harvest moon, hidden knowledge, choices, doorways, twisting paths, and even change. Unfortunately, (that depends on the day, really) she also happens to be my mother.

I found out that my mother was a goddess when I was five years old, the day when my father left me in the middle of two intersecting roads and never looked back. My father was a shaman-like healer that travelled between the various Native American reservations that dotted the southern New Mexico landscape. He ended up summoning her in one of his rituals, and nine months later found me gently placed on the step of his camper, swaddled in silky purple fabric with a carved dog pendant around my neck. For the next five years, he dragged me with him in a tiny camper all around the western United States. I don't know what made him leave me to the mercy of the gods, to abandon his five-year-old daughter in the middle of a mountain thunderstorm in the Wyoming Rockies, but he did. Eleven years later without any knowledge of him has made me never want to know. To say I'm a little bitter about that would be a bit of an understatement…

At times I get a little curious, and think back on him. I'm especially guilty on my birthday, when I pull out the little wallet-sized photo of my father, Elijah Black, and compare our features. I still can't fail to notice how we both have the same dark brown, almost black hair, the little crinkle on the top of our noses when we smile, and the same slim, wiry frame. Now when I compare myself with my father, I see more of my mother in me – her pale, creamy skin, glittering green eyes, and the moon-shaped face that always seems to be far more alluring on her than it ever could on me. Then again, Hecate is a goddess.

When Hecate found me shivering, covered in mud, and afraid, she spirited me away to the Place Between Places, also known as the Realm of Magic. The Place was colorful, chaotic, and dangerous – naturally, I loved it. Hecate taught me about the gods that inhabited the world, and their foolish, childish squabbles. The Olympians were selfish and cruel, especially to the children of the Titans that were allowed to remain free of imprisonment. My mother, the daughter of the Titans Perses and Asteria, was somewhat spared of that fate after the First Titan War, on account of her high standing with Zeus. That faded over the years until now she was barely worshipped at all, only remembered by crazy practitioners of long-dead religions. I also learned that I had other siblings in the world, with several scattered over the American continent.

A few were in upstate New York, at a sanctuary for demigods know as Camp Half-Blood. My brothers and sisters there had no idea of their true parentage, and weren't likely to be formally claimed as I was. Some were in the San Francisco Bay area in the Roman Camp Jupiter as members of the Twelfth Legion. Since Hecate's Roman aspect, Trivia, was slightly more recognized among the citizens of New Rome, it was slightly safer to send her Roman children there. Still others were scattered around the world as scribes in the House of Life, practicing their magic under the watchful eye of the Chief Lector, Iskandar, who was the oldest living child of Hecate. Then there were the few who were alone like me, with no one else to turn to and leading separate lives from the rest of our kin. It always hurt me to see the look on my mother's face whenever she talked about her scattered children, and the heartbreak it caused her.

The world had changed since the Big Three – Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades – decided that their children were too powerful to be unleashed on the world. The war between their children had devastated the world, unleashing a host of monsters, demons, and other nasties into the world. Demigods died by the hundreds, and the mortals by the millions. The Olympians kept to themselves now, ignoring their demigod children and the other gods that they deemed to be lesser than themselves. The tension was great, causing a ripple in the fabric of the heavens and providing the means for the Titans to strike against the Olympians. For years Hecate kept out of the brewing war, kept her children out of the range of fire until it was too late. Her children were the only things she had.

For eleven years she kept me close to her in the Place, teaching me how to use magic and runes, commune with the dead, and – most importantly – control the Mist. I wasn't the most powerful of Hecate's children, but I was to be one of the few that would teach the rest of my siblings their true abilities. My name is Arian Black, and I am destined for greatness.

* * *

When I was sixteen, Hecate could no longer hide from the other gods that she was hiding me in the Place. With little fanfare, she was summoned to Olympus while the other gods decided my fate. Two weeks later, I was standing in front of a white Greek-style archway on Long Island, New York that read "Camp Half-Blood". Hecate stood a few paces behind me, flanked on both sides by her animal companions, Hecuba the black Labrador and Gale the polecat. She was dressed in dark blue jeans and a white T-shirt depicting Mickey Mouse – I never understood her fascination with Disney, but she insisted that it was the "modern magic", whatever that meant. I was just surprised to see her in mortal clothes.

"Well… I've never been to summer camp before…" I trailed off as I peered past the archway and caught sight of an approaching creature. As it came closer, I realized that it was a centaur, most likely Chiron, the trainer of heroes since Ancient Greece. He stood at the gate, as if waiting for me to join him.

"I'm sorry," my mother said as I embraced her one last time, "I'll always be with you, Arian." I was touched by the ghost of a tear that could be seen in the corners of her eyes. My mother was rarely emotional, but I could only imagine how hard it was for her to lose yet another child to the whims of the Olympians. All at once I was enraged – what right did the Olympians have to take me away from the woman who raised me, who had sacrificed countless other children to them already? Hecate must have felt my anger and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, turning me around to face the looming gate ahead.

"Don't look back…" she whispered in my ear as I struggled to compose myself, "Just keep going, and be strong, my daughter." I willed my feet to move forward, towards the place that would be my home for probably the rest of my life. Her entourage barked their own goodbyes as I widened the chasm between us. When I crossed through the white pillars, a rush of protective power rushed through me. I glanced back at Hecate, but nothing was left except a slowly dissipating swirl of Mist.

The centaur cleared his throat, "You must be Arian Black. I am-"

I sharply interrupted him, "I know who you are." Chiron's eyes narrowed as his tail flicked in annoyance.

"Very well, Miss Black… if you would follow me, then."

Chiron gave me the full tour of the camp – the dining pavilion, strawberry fields, the sword fighting arena, archery fields, a lava-spewing climbing wall, amphitheater, stables, armory, the Big House, and last but not least – the twelve cabins arranged in a horseshoe around a courtyard. I saw other campers as we passed, most trying to catch a glimpse of the newest camper. As we got closer to the cabins, I could easily identify the patron Olympians of each cabin. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, and Artemis' cabins were clearly uninhabited – more like shrines or temples than anything else. However, all of the other cabins seemed to be brimming with campers, especially the one that I deemed to be the Hermes cabin. Cabin Eleven was the only cabin that actually looked like a typical camping cabin in the woods – peeling paint, brown wood, and an abundance of inhabitants.

"As Hermes is the god of travelers, you will stay in Cabin Eleven until you are claimed," the centaur said, gesturing to the run-down cabin.

I rolled my eyes. _There's no way that Hecate could claim me here,_ I thought as I shouldered my backpack. The little blue bag represented about a fifth of what I had brought with me from the Place – the rest of my clothes, personal items, magic items, and drachmas were stored magically, linked to a charm on my bracelet that only I could access with the right runes. Several charms on the silver chain weren't actually charms at all, but rather amulets that I had prepared that had the same effect of their counterpart spell. They wouldn't do much good to protect my things, but it was useful to have them around, especially since they could be used more than once between recharging. I ascended the rickety stairs, trying to ignore the stares of the Hermes kids. It was then that I also remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves.

The inside of the Hermes cabin wasn't much better than the outside. It consisted of a small common area with a few tables that opened up into a narrow lodge crowded with numerous bunks stacked against the walls, and a pair of bathrooms on the far side. I could pick out the true children of Hermes almost immediately, as all of them shared the same pointed features and mischievous eyes that convinced me to never leave my things unattended in this cabin. Even though they only made up about sixty percent of the more than thirty kids, I could bet several drachmas that they caused some serious havoc among their bunkmates. I would have to put a protection spell over my bag, bracelet, and necklace – I had no doubt that if I didn't they wouldn't last too long in this den of thieves.

An older-looking boy, maybe eighteen or so, stood up from the card table to greet me, holding out his hand to shake, "I'm Eric Johnson, the head counsellor of Hermes. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."

I eyed his outstretched hand and grinning demeanor suspiciously, but accepted the offered gesture of welcome, "Arian Black."

"Regular or undetermined?" a small kid piped up from atop a stack of blankets.

I thought very carefully before I decided to answer, "Undetermined." At that all the kids in the cabin let out a soft groan. I could bet that they got a lot of undetermined kids thrust in here… like this rickety cabin needed any more kids in it that weren't the children of Hermes. Eric called all the kids to order, quieting them down at an impressive rate.

The head counsellor ran his hand through his messy brown hair. "We're a little short on space right now… but I guess you could have Hannah's old bunk." Instantly, I got a sick feeling in my stomach. If I was getting Hannah's old bunk, where was Hannah now? I knew that demigods outside of sanctuaries like these didn't exactly have a life filled with rainbows and sunshine, but dying? I found that a little hard to swallow. I hastily nodded and made my way over to the sole empty bunk in the entire cabin. The rest of the Hermes cabin seemed to lose interest with me after that, going back to their card games, or some leaving the cabin altogether.

"Undetermined, huh?" I looked up from my bag to see a face peering over the top of the bunk. He was probably only a year or so older than I was, with unruly blond hair and bright blue eyes. I immediately identified him as one of the actual Hermes kids.

"Yes," I said shortly. At this point, I really was having one of the worst days of my life, and I really didn't want to talk to anyone, bunkmate or not.

The boy, surprisingly, swung himself over the edge of the top bunk and onto my bed, landing neatly on the hastily folded sheets. "Luke Castellan, son of Hermes," he introduced himself, extending a hand. I pointedly ignored it and returned to stowing my clothes from the bag in the small sliding cupboard in the wall.

"Okay, if you don't want to talk, that's fine," he said, raising his hands defensively, "I just thought that you looked a little lonely and might need a friend or something." I raised an uninterested eyebrow in his direction before slinging my blue bag over my shoulder. I didn't exactly trust the Hermes kids enough to not mess with my things. I stood up abruptly and picked my way over the beds on the floor to the front of the cabin.

As I closed the door, I could hear Luke yelling, "Dinner's at seven-thirty!"

* * *

I angrily tromped away from the cabins, struggling to hold in my emotions. I could hear Hecate's voice in the back of my mind, telling me to be strong. Tears coursed down my face as I ran blindly into the forest, eventually catching myself on a large rock. I stayed there for what felt like hours, only looking up when the shadows began to lengthen. Wiping the tear tracks from my cheeks, I went to the bathrooms to clean myself up.

The camp seemed to be less crowded at the approach of dinnertime, with most of the campers making their way to the large mess hall by the fireworks beach. I easily avoided the throng of kids, quickly entering the bathrooms. After eleven years of living in my mother's home in the Place Between Places, I was definitely not impressed with the state of the bathrooms. I preferred not to think about it too much as I washed my face with the cold tap water.

A loud thunk startled me, and I turned to find the source of the noise. It turned out to be three fairly large, burly girls that were partially outfitted in Greek armor. _Ares_ , my mind supplied. I had never met the god of war, personally, but I could easily assume from his reputation that his children would also be the type to kill first, ask questions later.

"Initiation time, newbie," one of them growled, punching a fist into her meaty palm. My eyes narrowed – I didn't like bullies, even if their dad was a super scary god of war. As soon as the girl saw the determined look on my face, her eyes brightened at the prospect of a fight. "I've got a friend that really wants to meet you."

"Oh really?" I drawled, "I love new friends…" The Ares girl bellowed out a war cry and charged me, outstretching her bulging arms. As soon as she neared me, however, I twisted the diamond-shaped charm on my bracelet, activating my invisibility amulet and disappearing from view. However, the drawback of invisibility spells is that they could still feel me if they got close enough. I could only hope that they were too dim-witted to come to that conclusion before I could escape. It was a little disorienting being invisible (as in really hard to see where your feet are stepping), but I tried to keep my wits about me as I skirted the enraged Ares kids.

I hadn't earned myself any new friends with that stunt, but it was definitely better than getting my head stuffed in one of those grimy toilets. Once I was far enough away from the bathrooms, I twisted the diamond-shaped charm again and became visible. Luckily enough, no one saw my return to the plane of view, and I made my way to the mess hall with no one else the wiser.

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	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Luke had apparently saved me a seat next to him at the bustling Hermes table. He was at the very far end of the table, seated next to a burly Hispanic boy and a messy-haired Asian. A little blonde girl – maybe nine or ten was talking to Luke with a big smile on her face. Her grin almost immediately vanished when I made my way around the edge of the pavilion-like mess hall, skirting several brightly burning braziers as I approached the Hermes table. Luke flashed me a smile and gestured to the bit of empty bench beside him.

"Hello, bunkmate," he said, unusually cheery. I looked at him suspiciously before cautiously sitting down. "This is Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena," he introduced the blonde girl, making her blush a little bit. I gave Annabeth a quick scan up and down, highlighting on her steely grey eyes, the trademark feature of Athena's children. I drew back a little – the children of Hecate and the children of Athena didn't always get along well… something to do with the fact that our mothers were both goddesses of knowledge and learning. We saw them as snobby know-it-alls, they saw us as sneaky backstabbers. To be fair, there was a more than a little bit of truth to both of those.

"Arian Black," I introduced myself, relieving the silence. Annabeth gave a quick nod and turned back to Luke.

"So you guys are in?" Her grey eyes were hopeful.

Luke gave a wry smile and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Stampeding _drakons_ couldn't stop us." Her face was jubilant as she scampered back to the Athena table. The Athena kids immediately huddled around her blonde head as they all received whatever information she brought them. I rolled my eyes – everything was a battle plan for the Athena kids. I had met a few while travelling for Hecate… let's just say that we didn't play nice together.

I looked at him sideways. "In for what?" Luke returned a mischievous grin.

"Capture the flag, of course." I raised my eyebrows and opened my mouth to ask him more about it, but was stopped by a loud, attention-grabbing set of bangs coming from the head table that came from Chiron stomping his foot on the marble floors. Everyone went quiet as the centaur clip-clopped his way to the front.

"Welcome to dinner, everyone," he announced, gazing over the assembled campers, "Before we all get to the food, I have a few start of the week announcements to share with you, the first of which is to introduce our new camper." He looked over the crowded Hermes table until he finally found me, "Arian Black, would you please stand?" I didn't bother, staring directly at him as the kids around the mess hall turned their heads in my direction. Chiron's tail swished uncomfortably as he cleared his throat.

"Right, well… in other news, the lava dispensers on the climbing wall have been fixed thanks to Mr. Beckendorf," a burly kid at the Hephaestus table gave a quick nod as his siblings gave him rough pats on the back, "So all climbing times are now available for rescheduling. Also, the team leaders for this week's capture the flag game are the Athena and Ares cabins." A cheer rose up from the two tables mentioned and their respective allies. I noticed that the Hermes cabin seemed to be on the Athena side – as infuriatingly superior as they often acted, the Athena kids were good at planning and executing battle strategies.

Chiron turned to look at the short, chubby man seated behind him at the head table. "Is there anything you wish to add, Mr. D?" I smothered my smirk as I realized that it was Dionysus, the god of wine. I had never met him before now, but Hecate had told me about how he had gotten himself put in the godly version of a time-out when he chased after Zeus' favorite wood nymph. I saw it as just another example of the gods' classic pettiness. The wine god gave a disinterested shrug and went back to his soda.

Apparently that was the cue to eat, because a dozen nymphs whisked in and deposited several plates of food on each table. I noticed that the cups in front of us stayed empty, for whatever reason. Luke must have noticed my confused expression, because he tapped his own cup and said, "They fill up with whatever drink you want, with the exception of anything alcoholic. Personally, I think that the Coke doesn't taste the same, but whatever. Watch – cherry Pepsi."

I watched curiously as the inside of his glass seemed to be filling itself with a dark, fizzy liquid. Luke smiled as it filled up, sucking the foam off of the rim of the glass when it got too close to the top. I smirked at his soda-foam mustache before he had the chance to wipe it off. "You try it," he urged, placing some of the barbecued meat and a few grapes on his plate.

"Fine," I said, thinking about what I wanted. I was about to order a root beer when a memory came up. It had been a few years after she had found me, but I was still scared of the massive magic storms that hurled themselves against Hecate's palace. They happened often enough that I couldn't sleep while they raged against the magically reinforced walls around me. My mother had found me on one of those nights, wandering through the large dining hall. She gently took my eight-year-old hand and led me into the kitchens. To my surprise, it looked surprisingly human, down to the shiny refrigerator in the corner. She didn't say anything, but just poured two glasses of chocolate milk and sat with me next to the window as we watched the storm.

My eyes watered a little bit as I thought of my home in the Place. I hadn't lived in my mother's palace for at least a year, but I still visited since she had built me a little house right on the border of the Place. The house's foundation was anchored somewhere in the thick forest outside of Seattle, Washington, but I could easily make the transition to the Realm of Magic from there. Careful not to let any of my emotion show, I quickly said, "Chocolate milk," and watched as the cup filled with the creamy liquid.

Luke cocked an eyebrow. "Chocolate milk, huh? I would have pegged you as a lemonade sort of girl." I gave a soft huff of laughter and began to fill my plate. I was just about to start eating when I noticed that all of the other campers were beginning to stand up and walk towards the large brazier at the far end of the pavilion. I followed Luke, carrying my plate with me.

"We give a portion of our meals as a sacrifice to the gods," he explained, scraping a bit of meat into the fire. I nodded in understanding and did the same as I passed the fire. To my surprise, the smoke coming from the burnt offerings didn't smell like burning meat – instead I caught the scent of pine trees, a salty sea breeze, and a thousand other smells I couldn't identify.

As I headed back to the Hermes table, I sent a silent prayer up to my mother, wishing more than anything to be back home where I belonged.

* * *

Luke had apparently taken it upon himself to be my personal guide around the camp, even going so far as to sit next to me at the sing-a-long after dinner. His two friends must have been part of the package too, because they sat on either side of me and him. I learned that the quiet Asian kid's name was Ethan Nakamura, who was unclaimed like I was. The burly Hispanic boy was definitely a son of Hermes – if it weren't for his darker skin and hair, he and Luke could have passed for brothers.

The next few days seemed to fly by as the rest of the Hermes cabin tried multiple different ways to find out which god I belonged to. A couple of them even had a betting ring going on, wagering on who the newbie's godly parent would be. When I was asked, I told them that my dad was mortal and an entire chorus of cheers went up. Luke later told me that many of them had bet heavily on Athena or Aphrodite being my godly parent. That, and it also meant that I wasn't another child of Hermes. I at least had a small chance of leaving the crowded Cabin Eleven behind if I was claimed.

"I disagree," he said while we were heading to the archery range for my newest round of tests, "Now, no offense, but I don't think that you're the kind of pretty that the Aphrodite kids are and you act nothing like the Athena kids."

"None taken," I shrugged, shouldering my blue bag.

"I first thought maybe you could be from Demeter, but your shining personality smashed that to the ground," he continued, oblivious to the dirty look I shot him, "Well, that and you hate cereal. I swear, if you say even one thing about 'whole grains', the Demeter kids get all up in arms about it… probably the only thing they're willing to argue about, anyway." By now, we had entered the archery range and were skirting around the Apollo kids that usually spent their free time here. "Then I started thinking… maybe you're the daughter of a minor god."

I stopped abruptly in front of an empty target lane, dropping my bag on the ground. Luke was the first person to really say what I had been thinking for the past few days. I didn't really want to go out and say who my mother was, as nearly all children of Hecate had almost as bad of a reputation as the children of Hades. Almost, but not quite. I nocked an arrow as Luke started spouting off the names of minor goddesses behind me.

"Iris, maybe? No, you don't look like the rainbow-hippy type. Tyche is the goddess of luck, but you don't seem particularly lucky to me… to be fair, most demigods are pretty lucky to have lived this long. I could see you as a daughter of Nemesis – the whole revenge thing and all that. You look like a person who's the vengeful type…"

He finally stopped talking as I shot an arrow near the center of the target. Compared to the Apollo kids around me, it wasn't a good shot, but it wasn't bad by most demigod's standards. "Nice shot," he said, nodding approvingly, "Too bad you aren't in Apollo." I rolled my eyes – I wouldn't have wanted to be in Apollo anyway. While I could see the benefit of their athleticism and impressive aim with just about any projectile, I could only put up with the music for so long. I couldn't play any instrument worth my life, and my singing voice was painfully average. Apollo was definitely out.

Eventually, I could tell that Luke was getting bored sitting on the stump while I shot arrows, so I suggested that we swing by the arena on our way back to the cabin. His face immediately brightened as I packed up my archery equipment. He practically skipped over the grass in his excitement as I hurried to catch up with him. This wasn't my first time seeing the arena, but I had no doubts that Luke would ask me to spar with him. I fingered the sword-shaped charm on my silver bracelet that would summon my sword, Argyros. Three years ago, I had found the celestial bronze blade inlaid with silver veins amongst the hoard of treasures hidden deep in my mother's palace and claimed it as my own. After many failed attempts and much research, I finally managed to cast the spells needed to connect it to a charm and ensure that if I ever lost it, the sword would return to its place on my bracelet.

I hadn't used Argyros since I had to vaporize a pair of _dracanae_ that were slithering a little too close to my house for comfort, but I still trained with it. I hadn't had a chance to really train since I'd come to Camp Half-Blood, but there was no way in Hades that would stop me now.

When were entered the arena, I was thankful to find the stands and the sandy ground empty of demigods. I could find evidence of their presence though – scattered water bottles and towels, poorly stacked shields, and the scuff in the sand all said that the previous class had just left. That was just fine by me… I wasn't too fond of audiences. Luke pulled a sword from the rack and twirled it expertly.

"You up for a bit of sparring?" he asked mischievously, stretching his shoulders. I snorted and placed a hand on my bracelet, twisting the head of my sword charm and triggering the magic to summon Argyros. Luke stared unabashedly as the sword grew from a charm that was half the size of my pinky to its full size in the blink of an eye.

I took my place in the ring across from him, not failing to see his awed expression. "I'm always up for a bit of practice." Luke shook off his amazement at the sudden transformation and settled into position, a grin creeping over his face. Luke was obviously a skilled fighter – or too cocky for his own good – to be so confident. I would have to find a way to bring that confidence down a notch or two.

Remembering my lessons from fighting against the _empousai_ that were often my opponents, I bared my teeth in a feral grin. The sudden change on my features must have startled him a bit, but he hid it well as he advanced slowly. As we circled each other, gaging our opponent's strengths, I couldn't help but notice that his footwork was impeccable – I could say much worse about my own. He could definitely overpower me with strength, but I might have the advantage of speed and agility. There was only one way to find out.

With a loud war-cry, I swung my blade at him. Argyros would have slashed directly through his chest if he hadn't nimbly jumped out of the way. I cursed myself mentally – fighting another demigod was much different from fighting against a couple of monsters, and I didn't have too much experience with that. To be honest, I'd sooner use my invisibility charm to skirt around an unfriendly demigod than meet them head-on in a confrontation. Before I could recover the momentum of my strike, Luke was almost on top of me, forcing me backwards with a blindingly fast combination that left me reeling.

He backed off a bit when I almost clipped the side of his ear with a quick lunge. Okay, maybe he was a bit faster than I was… clearly he had been rigorously training since he'd come to camp three years before. I'd have to play this wisely if I was going to win. I reengaged with a wide, sweeping blow that would leave me open on my left side. Luke had apparently noticed this too, and went right for my exposed shoulder. At the last second, I sidestepped out of the way, allowing his momentum to carry him past me.

Luke stumbled only for a moment, a new light of grudging respect flickering in his eyes before he was back on the offensive. I knew that he was far too clever to fall for the same trick twice – children of Hermes were notoriously hard to deceive on account of their father being the patron of thieves and general trickery. We exchanged cautious blows with each other, still warily trying to probe the other's defenses. I was the first to find a hitch in his system – a small opening just below his right shoulder that appeared whenever he tried to block low cuts. Without hesitating, I went for it, faking like I was swinging low then whipping the point of my sword to his shoulder.

The next few seconds passed like I was moving in slow motion. I could only watch as the mischievous light grew in Luke's eyes when he neatly sidestepped my blow, almost exactly mirroring the fake I had pulled on him not two minutes before. Before I knew it, I was rolling on the sandy ground. When the world stopped spinning, I opened my eyes to see Luke's blade pointed in my face from where I lay on the flat of my back, a huge grin splitting his face.

"Now I know you aren't a child of Athena," he teased, helping me up as I brushed sand from my jeans, "Even Annabeth could have seen that coming from a mile away!"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, it's a good thing I'm not Annabeth, then," I drawled as I shrank down Argyros to its charm size. He stared at it for a moment before placing his borrowed sword back on the rack.

"A charm, huh?" Luke asked, eyeing my bracelet, "A friend of mine had something like that once. Hers wasn't a sword, though… her bracelet grew into a seriously scary shield."

"It's easy to carry and small enough not to be noticed," I defended, "Definitely worth the energy used to create the charm form." Luke gave a small nod.

"Well… it suits you," he finally said, before cracking a smile, "Come on, let's head up to the pavilion. All this sparring made me hungry!"

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 **Please, please, please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 **Hello, everyone, SpeechBubbleMe here! I'm so excited about the good responses that this story has gotten! Thank you so much to all of you who added me to your favorites or followed Daughter of the Mist, and I hope that you'll keep reading! Please, please, please feel free to shoot me a mail for ideas, thoughts, and feedback because no matter what it is, I'll read and reply. Thanks so much!**

 **Disclaimer: Rick Riordan, may he be scourged by fangirls (or fanguys, I don't care which), owns the Heroes of Olympus universe and the lovely things inside of it. Not Arian, though... she's my OC :)**

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Luke, in my opinion, was far too excited about capture the flag. Personally, I didn't see what was so great about going into monster-stocked woods while trying to fight against another team of demigods, but I guess that this was really Camp Half-Blood's only source of fun for these kids. I would want a distraction too if I had to spend my life here without contact from the outside world.

When Friday came around, Luke took me to the armory to see if we could find any helmets and breastplates that would fit. When we entered the forge, only one of the Hephaestus kids looked up from what he was working on, setting down the messy tangle of gears and wires on his desk before greeting Luke. I recognized his face from my first night at the camp – this was Charles Beckendorf, the kid who apparently fixed the lava spigots on the climbing wall. From what Luke had told me before, they were old friends – Beckendorf was the next kid to come to camp after Luke and Annabeth did.

"So, you're here for armor?" the burly boy said, cracking a few of his knuckles, "I'll show you what we have." With that, he walked down a door-lined hall that led away from the heat of the open forge, stopping in front of a locked door. He fished a set of keys from his pocket and opened the door, wincing a bit as the hinges creaked. "I still haven't fixed that," he apologized. I repressed a smile – though all of the children of Hephaestus I had met were brilliant with machinery and solving problems, they tended to be a bit forgetful and got distracted easily by a new project or toy.

"You won't need a sword, so that solves half of our problem," Luke said as he maneuvered around a mountainous pile of shields. He picked up a small, circular shield embossed with the golden sun of Apollo. "Shield?" I shook my head and turned to the rack of helmets on the wall. I tried a few on, but most were too big and slipped down on my head. When it looked like none of them would fit, Beckendorf offered to refit one of the smaller ones. I thanked him for the offer, but declined. I'd been fighting without a helmet for so long that it would be harder to fight with one than risk a concussion if I didn't.

After nearly an hour of trying on countless breastplates, vambraces, and other bits of weaponry, I finally decided on a Greek-style leather breastplate that would stop any arrows from the children of Apollo that were allied with Ares, and a pair of matching arm guards that would protect my forearms and wrists against the powerful blows of my opponents. I wouldn't be as fully outfitted as most of the other demigods, but I would have a full range of motion that was otherwise restricted by all of the heavy armor. Before we left, Beckendorf promised to have my new armor cleaned up and ready by the time the game started.

"Thanks, man," Luke said as he clapped his hand on Beckendorf's meaty shoulder, "I owe you one – see you at the games."

As we walked back to the Hermes cabin, Luke filled me in on the rules of capture the flag: Every camper who isn't injured has to play, the creek that ran through the woods was the boundary line, and the entire forest is considered fair game for traps, "prison", and as a hiding spot for the flag. Other rules were more technical, such as the flag must be prominently displayed and can have no more than two guards – those guards can't stand within ten yards of the flag. Still others were safety concerns, like the rule that banned killing, maiming, and binding prisoners – any intentional maiming would bring about the loss of dessert for a week. I was a little more excited when Luke said that all magical items were allowed, which meant that I could use my charms for invisibility, speed, and one that produced a gale of wind strong enough to knock a demigod off their feet.

In addition to the charms on my bracelet, I had a few spells up my sleeve that would work as warning devices and keep my enemies from getting too close. One of my personal favorite was the spell that caused any mortal or monster within a ten foot radius to feel dizzy and nauseated, but had the unfortunate side-effect of consuming a large amount of energy. I didn't know how well it worked on demigods, though, but it wouldn't hurt to try. I could also try and summon the Mist, but I didn't think that the camp boundaries and the concentration of demigods around me would allow it. It was always harder to fool a focused demigod than a hungry monster or foolish mortal.

When we arrived back at the Hermes cabin, most of my cabin mates were suiting up in blue-painted armor, contrasting with the red war paint belonging to the Ares team. Across the green I could also see the Athena and Hephaestus cabin strapping on blue-painted armor as well. The red team had the rest of the cabins: Apollo, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Dionysus. A loud cheer went up from both sides when Chiron blew a long, low note on his horn to signal the start of the game. The Red team disappeared into the other half of the woods as the Athena kids brought us all in a circle to give orders.

The strategy was to split up into smaller groups, each headed up by one of the Athena kids. Luke and I were assigned to an offensive group under Annabeth along with Chris Rodriguez, Ethan Nakamura, and Charles Beckendorf. Our job was to create a distraction deep in enemy territory while another offense group got the red flag. Luke and Beckendorf gave synchronized evil grins at the word "distraction", probably meaning that they planned to blow something up along the way. With the impromptu briefing over, our group ran into the trees, spurred on by another blast of Chiron's horn.

Annabeth led our small group through the trees, her small figure barely making noise as she skirted around the rocks and fallen branches. She seemed to know where she was going, so I followed her without question. When we had gotten a ways into the enemy territory, she suddenly stopped and ducked behind a large bush, signaling for the rest of us to follow. I barely made it down in time to avoid being caught by a pair of Apollo kids whooping war cries as they trampled through the brush. As soon as they were out of sight we were moving again, silent as shadows.

Finally, we reached the small clearing where we would set up our first "distraction". To my surprise, Beckendorf pulled out several large rig components from his backpack (including one that looked a whole lot like a Power Ranger helmet on steroids) that should have been impossible to fit in there. He flashed a grin in my direction and explained, "Magic storage bag – it was a gift from my dad last year." Once we had assembled the components, the finished product looked much like the result of a giant's connector set linked together in the shape of a very gangly stick figure about twenty feet long.

Beckendorf stood at the other end of the clearing and pulled out a small controller that looked suspiciously like a GameBoy. After extending the large antennae on the end about a foot, he pressed a series of buttons on the controller.

"Talos Seven, activate!" he said in a firm voice. I watched in awe as our new metal friend moved his spindly arms and sat up straight, as if waiting for more instruction. "Execute battle plan Alpha!" The robot stood up to its full height of a little over two stories, towering over several of the smaller pine trees.

Luke grinned widely as we backed away from the robot's feet. "This part was my idea – you may want to hold on to something." I hastily grabbed hold onto a nearby tree as the Talos Seven began to squat slightly, holding its arms out parallel like a gymnast. Too late, I realized what the silver automaton was going to do. The coiled springs in the legs released, sending the whole contraption flying more than fifty feet into the air. Everything was silent as the robot hung in the sky for a heartbeat, then came crashing down to earth with a loud thud, rattling the trees nearest it with the shockwave.

"Well, I think we have their attention now," I muttered, shaking the effects of the impact from my head, now covered in dirt and dust blown out by the less-than-stellar landing.

"Wait for it," Luke said, picking himself up from the dirt. I turned my gaze back to the Talos Seven as a very loud voice began singing very off-key and lights began flashing, making our part of the forest look like the center of a very wild rave. "The Apollo kids can't stand bad music," Luke explained as we took up our ambush positions across the clearing from Annabeth and Chris Rodriguez. "We might put ourselves on their kill list for a little while, but at least it'll get their attention away from the main attack."

"Oh yeah, kill list sounds good," I drawled as I spotted the first red-crested helmet to break through the trees. Sure enough, it was one of the kids that I recognized from the Apollo cabin. With a loud war cry, he charged the Talos Seven but was intercepted by a well-placed tripwire of Beckendorf's. More members of the Red team rushed through the trees, intent on capturing us. I summoned Argyros and stepped into the fray, my sword clashing against several others as I fought my way through the mass of opponents.

I ended up fighting next to Ethan Nakamura for a little while until he ran off to help Chris with two burly Ares kids. I caught a glimpse through the fighting bodies of Annabeth skillfully wielding a short sword and a knife, catching many off guard with her carefully planned tactics. I couldn't see Beckendorf, but I could see the effects of his handiwork – splatters of blue paint from his bombs and tangled nets that stuck magnetically to the Red team's armor told me that he could definitely hold his own.

My eyes eventually found Luke, gleefully dispatching his opponents with ease. He must have been holding back when we sparred, because now he was making the two girls from Apollo that were attacking him look like blundering cows in comparison. However, he was so engrossed in the battle that he didn't notice Lee Fletcher from Apollo sneaking up behind him, untangling one of Beckendorf's nets to throw.

"Luke!" I warned, dodging a reaching swing from one of my opponents as I ran towards him, twisting the cube-shaped charm for a burst of extra speed. Thankfully, as he turned towards me he spotted Lee out of the corner of his eye and moved slightly out of the way. As I ran through the now-crowded clearing, I could see that we were definitely going to lose this battle – the Talos Seven had been deactivated once the Red Team captured Beckendorf, confiscating the GameBoy controller. Ethan and Chris were tangled up in a pair of nets, looking mutinously at their guards. Through the crowd, I spotted my new "friends" in the Ares Cabin. Obviously they wanted a rematch.

I was cut off before I could reach Luke, leaving my back vulnerable as my speed charm wore off. Whirling constantly, I swung my blade in an attempt to keep my assailants off of me. That tactic worked for less than a minute before they figured out that if they rushed me from more than one side, I would be quickly overpowered. As soon as I was disarmed, the Ares girl that had cornered me in the bathroom swung a wild fist at my face. There was no way in Hades that my tired reflexes would stop it, and before I knew it, I was staring blankly up at the blue sky as my scattered senses tried to return to my head. Distantly, I registered that the area around my left eye was beginning to swell amidst the throbbing of my head. With my luck, I probably had a concussion too.

As the Red Team pulled my limp form over to the rest of my captured teammates, I let my head swing to the side. A grin split my bruised face as I saw two blue-clad figures run through the trees with a bright red flag.

Luke caught my smile as he was escorted over. "Some game, huh?"

* * *

The Apollo Cabin wasn't too enthusiastic about healing our wounds after the game was over, especially since we were the ones mostly responsible for their loss. The only sympathy I got from any of them was from Lee Fletcher, the head counselor of Apollo, who bandaged the cuts on my eyebrow and cheekbone then mashed together a poultice for my swollen eye.

"Renée gets a little excited," he explained, jerking his head slightly in the direction of the girl who'd punched me, "Just be glad she's off to college at the end of the summer." I gave a slow nod as he walked away from my cot in the infirmary to help more injured kids. Several minutes later, all who were able to walk were ushered out of the infirmary and out to the green for the awards ceremony. The leader of Cabin Six, Annabeth, and a few other children of Athena went up to the podium to accept the victor's laurels which would hang outside their cabin door until the next game of capture the flag.

Aside from getting my face clubbed with Renée's meaty fist, I found that I actually enjoyed playing capture the flag. Not only did it give me an opportunity to test my skills against other demigods, but it was also an excellent place to vent all of my pent-up frustration from the previous week, leaving my body exhausted but at peace. It was a good kind of tired, I guess, and allowed me to quietly slip into sleep that night.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **Hello, everyone! Forgive me for my slacking, but work and family has been very busy lately. Thank you so much for all of you who have decided to follow this story and leave a review, I absolutely love it! Not much of a docket, but here it is anyways:**

 **Quihi - I'm glad that you like it! I wanted to do something that usually isn't done, something before Percy Jackson enters the story. Anyway, thanks a ton for leaving a review!**

 **Mariah Dawnsinger - You may be right... I'll try and see what I can do, but in the meantime, keep giving feedback. I love hearing other people's suggestions to improve my characters, so thank you very much! Also, I look forward to your next chapter ;)**

 **Disclaimer: Own Percy Jackson, I do not. Too awesome, Rick Riordan is... Speaking like Yoda, I enjoy :)**

* * *

I have only one thing to say about demigod dreams: They suck. Worse than a broken vacuum with the lint on fire. You get the point. My dream went something like this:

I was back in the Place Between Places, right outside my mother's palace. I was standing on the little hill in the middle of the grounds that used to be a giant tree anchored to a real willow tree that had stood along the banks of the Mississippi river since the Civil War. Naturally, some mortal decided to cut it down to make way for a fancy resort. The stump still stood, however, regardless of the worker's attempts to grind it out. The stump was one of my mother's favorite places to cross between the Place and the mortal world.

Something felt wrong when I looked at the palace – something was different about its silvery turrets and shadowed walls. Then, I noticed the massive magic storm surging towards the palace. Part of me knew that there was no way for the violent mass of energy to breach the heavy wards placed on the stones, but I watched in horror as the storm threw all of its energy at the shimmering walls of Mist. Like a sword through air, it sliced through the enchantments and unleashed its fury on the palace.

 _ **This will be the fate of the gods**_ , a voice hissed, the noise echoing in my head, _**Their seats of power destroyed, their palaces razed to the ground… rebellious children to be thrust into the depths of Tartarus as their fathers were!**_ I slammed my hands over my ears in an effort to drown out the sound, but to no avail. Instead, I was swallowed up by the dark anger of the storm as Hecate's palace crumbled.

I tried to run through the inky black cloud around me, but there was no escaping it. The same horrifying voice rang in my ears, now shouting in rage and pain. _**A pact in revenge, unbalance will cease, and blinded by love will choose war over peace… A single choice shall end his days, Olympus to preserve or raze!**_ The words repeated through my mind endlessly, etching themselves into my memory until I knew that I could never forget them. The darkness seemed to deepen as the words took hold, pulling me down towards what seemed to be the depths of Tartarus itself.

I jolted awake, nearly hitting my head on the bottom of Luke's bunk when I sat up. I let out a few shaky breaths as I placed my arms behind my head in an attempt to calm myself. Still shaking, I slipped on my shoes and tried to be quiet as possible as I snuck out of the cabin.

The moonlight poured over me as I made my way to the lake, the soft glow soothing my worries as I walked. The night always seemed to invigorate me more than the day – I owed that to my mother's status as a goddess of the night and moon. As I walked, I replayed the dream over in my mind. I felt like it was a warning, somehow, to the Olympians. Hecate wasn't an Olympian technically, but a Titan that sided with the gods in their war against Kronos. I knew that she still supported them now, but what if that changed in the future? Would the gods take more retribution on her children, and banish them from their homes like they had done to me?

My thoughts were interrupted when I came to a halt, staring at another shadow sitting at the edge of the docks. I cursed my stupidity for coming out here without making sure that I was alone. The figure must have heard me, and stood up to turn in my direction. I tried to retreat, but my shoes gave me away when they clacked against the wood of the docks. I blushed furiously as I realized that I was wearing my bright pink Minnie Mouse pajama pants and a white tank top, therefore making me _very_ visible.

"Wait!" I winced when I recognized Luke's voice and slowly turned to face him. He was in his camp shirt and a pair of shorts, his blonde hair rumpled from lying in his bunk. Curiously enough, he was shoeless.

"I didn't follow you out here, I promise," I mumbled as he jogged up the dock, his bare feet pounding the wood, "I didn't know anyone was out here this late."

He cracked a small smile, "I guess I'm not the only one who can't sleep tonight." Luke tilted his head towards the end of the dock where he'd been sitting, "I wouldn't mind some company." I joined him on the end of the wood planks, taking off my shoes so that my toes could lazily skim the water below. Luke's legs were longer, allowing his feet to almost be completely immersed in the inky water.

"So…" he trailed off, splashing his feet around in the water, "Why're you out here?"

"Dreams," I replied flatly, not meeting his gaze, "You?"

"Dreams," he countered, a ghost of a smile flickering across his lips, "Sometimes being a demigod can really suck, huh?"

I gave a snort and drew one of my knees up to my chest, resting my arm across it. "Sometimes? I really think you mean all the time. Being a demigod has brought me nothing but monsters and more scars than I care to admit." Luke was silent for a little while before he shrugged.

"Okay, it sucks, but would you rather be a clueless mortal?" I huffed a sigh and dropped my knee, crossing my arms defensively.

"No…"

Luke gave a soft laugh as he stared out over the reflective water, "Exactly… the gods suck." Even though it was a clear night, I heard thunder rumble ominously in the distance. Apparently the gods don't like it when their kids say they suck at parenting – which they do. "They just forget us, and leave us to be trained or whatever."

I gave a shrug and went back to skimming my toes over the water. It was relaxing, even if my feet were getting cold. "They don't all forget their children here, you know," I said softly, "Some actually try to protect their kids. It's easier to stay alive when you aren't being hunted by monsters."

"Protect them like Zeus protected Thalia?" Luke replied, a note of bitterness creeping into his voice. I remembered what Chiron had told me about Thalia Grace, the only daughter of Zeus to be born in more than fifty years. After World War II, the Big Three swore an oath on the River Styx not to have any more children – they were just too powerful. Despite his oath, Zeus fell off the wagon and had Thalia. Hades, infuriated that his brother broke his word, unleashed all of the nasties of the Underworld on Thalia. She survived by herself for a while until she found Luke and Annabeth, eventually finding a satyr to take them to Camp Half-Blood. Injured and exhausted, she told the satyr to take the others ahead. The daughter of Zeus made her final stand atop the hill, saving her friends by sacrificing herself. As she died, her father turned her into a pine tree, creating the barrier that would keep out monsters for years to come.

"It wasn't her fault, Luke," I soothed, "It wasn't hers or yours that she did what she did."

He let out a heavy sigh, all of the tension draining out of his shoulders. "I know… but sometimes I still think that I can hear her calling out to me on the top of that hill, or she'll be right in front of me asking why I didn't come back to save her, or-"

I cut him off with a fierce glare. "Listen to me: you can't change the past, only the future. _You_ control your destiny, not the gods." Luke looked stunned as if I had just knocked his sword into the dirt and bowled him over. He gave a surprised blink and began to laugh.

Now it was my turn to look at him in concern until his laughing fit subsided. He wiped away a few tears from his cheeks as he turned his bright blue eyes on me. "You said that just like her… Just like Thalia used to."

"Thanks… I think," I hedged, still looking at him strangely.

He sighed and laid down on the worn wood. "She never met her dad, not once, and she was still convinced that he was out to help her. To make herself feel better, Thalia always told me that she blamed Hera for her troubles… How many times have you met your mom?"

I hesitated – most kids at Camp Half-Blood had only met their godly parents a few times, if at all. Those that were still undetermined hadn't even been claimed. A lot of demigods – especially the unclaimed – were understandably bitter. "A few times," I lied, "You?"

"Once." The way he said it made me feel like it wasn't a happy story. "I don't think dreams count, though… they're not really there, you know?" I gave a slow nod of agreement and laid down beside him, staring up at the stars above us. This was one of the first times I had ever just looked at the stars, since the Place didn't have stars, just lots of Mist and a single, lonely moon. We sat in silence for a little while, letting the cool summer breeze coming off the lake wash over us.

"Hecate," I finally said, prompting him to turn to me in confusion, "You asked who my mom was earlier – it's Hecate, the goddess of magic."

Luke's blue eyes widened in understanding for a moment, then a cocky grin appeared on his face. "I knew it! Oh, man, Travis and Connor better pay up!" he crowed triumphantly, giving an enthusiastic fist-pump. "I guess that explains the magic charm bracelet thingy?"

I couldn't help but to laugh at his excited face. "Yeah," I admitted, jangling the metal chain and charms that were always present on my wrist, "It took me a long time to figure out the spells… I'm not the greatest at incantations, but I can manage a summoning without too many problems."

Luke stared at me blankly for a second as if I'd suddenly started speaking in Latin. For all I knew, I could have been – understanding how magic worked was never easy to me, it was all instinctual. I had met several other children of Hecate during my travels, and many were way more skilled in the art of spell casting than I would ever be. Most were scribes in the House of Life, but I had met a few loners that far exceeded my own magical capabilities. Like the mother that bestowed them upon us, the nature of our godly gifts were ever-changing from demigod to demigod. While I was lacking the magic department, I made up for it with a strong connection to the Mist, being able to bend it to my will with ease. Like most other children of Hecate, I was able to converse with dogs, her sacred animal. Unfortunately, my mother was also the goddess of ghosts and necromancy, which gave me the uncommon gift of communication with the dead.

"If your mom's the goddess of magic, are you really good at card tricks?" Luke blurted suddenly, looking a little sheepish once he realized what he said.

I gave him a strange look and slowly shook my head. "No… That's not real magic, just sleight of hand. Why?"

He gave a quick shrug, "I don't know… just curious, I guess. The only gifts I inherited involve picking locks, quick reflexes, and being really good at bluffing. Not so helpful being a son of Hermes. All of the other gods' kids have really cool powers, but the only thing I'm good at is stealing and sword fighting."

We were quiet for a few more minutes as I thought about what he'd said. It was true that the more powerful the god or goddess, the stronger their demigod children were. However, those powerful demigods practically screamed their location out loud and clear to any monster in the area where they were, inviting all kinds of trouble. I could only imagine the aura coming from Thalia, the daughter of Zeus – it was a miracle that she even made it as close to the camp as she did before being overwhelmed. I could sense Luke's to some degree with a bit of concentration, the ever-shifting pulse of life that was laced with the godly power of Hermes.

"We should head back," I said softly, noticing the lightening of the sky in the east. It was hard to believe that Luke and I had talked for so long, but I liked the comfort he brought after my dream. He gave a wordless sound of agreement, pulling me to my feet when he stood. We walked soundlessly back to the cabin, our feet causing the wooden stairs to creak and groan. Luke stopped me before I could open the door, leaning casually against the front post of the porch.

"I'm sorry for scaring you earlier," he apologized, a half-smile pulling at the right side of his face, "But for what it's worth, thanks for staying with me, Arian." I felt heat rise on my cheeks at his words. He didn't scare me, not really, but it was kind of sweet that he said sorry anyway.

"You're welcome," I said simply, opening the door gingerly to keep it from squeaking and waking up the entire cabin. I'd learned quickly that Cabin Eleven was full of light sleepers and how to avoid them. Once I was inside, I dashed to my bunk and tried to ignore the sounds of Luke climbing into the bunk above me. I could still feel the blush on my face as I closed my eyes and let sleep take me.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 **A thousand pardons, bless my soul... Yes, I'm a slacker. To be fair, my life has been transformed into a whirlwind of crazy lately, so I haven't had a whole lot of time or internet connection to post. However I should give credit where it's due - Stardust1987, thank you for giving me the figurative equivalent of a kick to the behind to get my titanic rear in gear and start posting again. Your awesome review was everything that I needed to get out of my funk and get my head together, so thank you, thank you, thank you!**

 **As I promised, here's the chapter. Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns this lovely playground of a universe... I just get to play on the swing set!**

* * *

I slowly came awake to the sound of what was either a very excited celebration or an extremely heated argument. Turns out, it was both.

Before I knew it, I was dressed in the camp T-shirt, a pair of jeans, and an old pair of sneakers, hastily tugging my hair into a low ponytail. There were few people left in the cabin by the time I went outside, but as soon as I opened the door, I knew where all of them were.

Almost the entire population of demigods at Camp Half-Blood were crowded in the middle of the green, some arguing furiously with each other, and others (mostly the Hermes cabin) were chattering excitedly as if their best friend just got elected president. In the middle of all of this I could just barely pick out Luke's tall frame and blonde hair, backed closely by the equally tall but lankier form of Chris Rodriguez. Ethan Nakamura was sitting at the bottom of the wooden stairs, standing as soon as he saw me.

"What's going on?" I hissed, eyeing the arguing campers around me. Ethan's eyes flickered over to the big clump of people in the middle.

"Someone's been given a quest," he said under his breath as he looked on, worry etched onto his features.

"A quest?" I replied blankly, "Is this normal?"

The twelve-year-old gave a shrug, "For a bunch of kids whose parents are ancient deities, yeah, I guess this could be normal. The thing is, we haven't had a quest since before Luke and Annabeth got here three years ago, and that one didn't exactly go well. Chiron placed a ban on voluntary quests _years_ ago."

"Voluntary?" I scoffed, "I doubt that a lot of people would actually want to go looking for something out in the monster-infested wilderness."

"You'd be surprised… a lot of people died, though," Ethan replied, sitting back down on the stairs and leaving a bit of space for me to join him. "Now Chiron only authorizes quests granted directly from the gods because it would be a _really_ bad idea to ignore those."

I rolled my eyes, but wisely said nothing. The Olympians conveniently forgot about their kids until they needed them to run their incredibly important mortal errands that they were too proud to do themselves. Even when they disguised their need for help in the form of a quest, the demigods still got screwed over if they survived. The gods were many things, and prideful was one of them. Petty, too. I couldn't count all of the myths that involved them getting into stupid squabbles that ended in a devastating war for the mortals. The Trojan War, the Punic Wars, the American Civil War, and basically every other conflict in the parts of the world that they inhabited.

"So… which lucky demigod gets to be served as monster bait next?" I asked emotionlessly, trying to identify the other people in the middle of the argument. Ethan cringed at the words "monster bait", looking out over the green with a pitying stare.

"Luke, son of Hermes."

I stared at him blankly in shock. When I'd talked to Luke last night on the dock, he'd made no attempt to tell me about what must have been the dream in which he received his quest. I just couldn't fathom that Luke, probably the only person at camp that I could actually call my friend, was now being sent to his death by his godly jerk of a father. Without another word, I stood up sharply and pushed my way through the crowd of yelling demigods. As I neared the center, I could pick out bits and pieces of the conversation.

"It's not like I asked for a quest, Lee!" I could hear Luke's voice directly ahead of me and headed towards it. When I finally reached the source of the noise, I could see Luke, Chris, and Eric standing on one side of the small clearing, standing in solidarity against Lee Fletcher and Michael Yew from Apollo, Katie Gardiner from Demeter, and the rest of the cabin leaders.

"Calm down, Luke," Katie soothed in an attempt to mediate between the two groups. Silena Beauregard of the Aphrodite cabin was trying to do much of the same, placing a graceful hand on the shoulder of Michael Yew.

"How do we even know that you got this dream from Hermes?" Michael sneered, his pointy features narrowing even more than usual, "I mean, all of us would love to dream about our parents, but faking a quest to get attention is just sad!" Chris held Luke back just in time to keep him from tearing Michael's face off. I would done the same thing except for a hand at my elbow that prompted me to turn. Ethan Nakamura had followed me into the fray.

Katie looked livid at her fellow head counselor. "Michael!" she shrieked, glaring at him ferociously. The son of Apollo had the good sense to back off, and with good reason – the Demeter kids didn't fight often, but when they did they were a force to be reckoned with. Lee Fletcher backed up his half-brother as they retreated to the back of the pack.

"Luke, tell us what happened," Silena prompted once those on both sides had cooled down, although Luke and Michael were still exchanging glares. I could tell that even at the best of times those two didn't get along.

Luke took a deep breath and stepped forwards a little bit. It was then that I realized that most of the people around us had fallen silent, straining to hear the story straight from the source. Others were whispering conspicuously while training their attention on Luke. "I dreamed that I was at a park, and my dad showed up. He told me that I had been granted a quest to retrieve a golden apple and an audience with the Oracle." He didn't elaborate any more than that. "I know this wasn't just a regular dream, I know it!"

Something in his voice pulled at me, and somehow I knew that there was something that he wasn't telling us. Something else happened that was making him afraid… and resentful. I could sense a little bit of the bitterness he harbored seeping through him when he talked about his father, but this was far beyond that. I had been about to open my mouth to speak when Chiron galloped down the green, parting the sea of demigods like a taller, horsey Moses.

"Luke Castellan!" he called, searching wildly for the tell-tale head of blonde hair among the mass of campers on the green. Luke paled as the centaur rode up to him, solemn as the Styx. Everyone was silent for what seemed like an eternity until Chiron spoke. "The gods have granted a quest… and it is not our place to judge it." Several campers (Lee and Michael included) stifled groans as Chiron fixed them with his intense gaze. "Come with me," the centaur ordered, quickly turning towards the Big House. Luke followed behind, with the rest of us trailing along.

As soon as Chiron reached the white-painted porch of the Big House, he said something to Luke under his breath that the rest of us strained to hear, but to no avail. Luke gave a single solemn nod, then entered the house alone.

"What's he doing?" I hissed under my breath to Ethan as the chattering of the campers around me grew louder. Ethan's dark eyes flickered up to the sole, circular window of the Big House's attic.

"Well… since Luke got a quest, he gets to speak to the Oracle," he answered nervously.

My eyes widened. "The Oracle?" I asked incredulously, "As in "Priestess of Apollo from Delphi", _that_ Oracle? And she lives in the attic?"

Ethan nodded uneasily, "I'm not so sure about _lives_ ," he shuddered, "There hasn't been a living host since the nineteen-forties. I've never been up there, but the stories are enough to make you wish all three Kindly Ones were after you instead of that…" I felt a little chill crawl up my spine. I'd seen a lot of weird things over the course of my life – I mean, I was the child of an ancient deity that had influenced countless civilizations, for the gods' sake – but this was beyond weird even for me. Like Ethan said, I'd rather have all three Hell bats that were the Furies after me than have an audience with whatever occupied the attic. Hands down, no contest.

We sat down on the benches in front of the Big House for what felt like hours until Chiron herded us towards the amphitheater to sit with the rest of our cabin mates. Chris Rodriguez waved us over, sitting apart from the main group of campers.

It was nearly dark when Luke emerged from the Big House, looking unsettled, but physically fine. Chiron quickly escorted him over to the center of the amphitheater, where we all stared at him in expectation. Now that he was closer, I could see that his shoulders were bent as if they were carrying a heavy weight, and his normally bright blue eyes were now haunted and dull. He seemed years older than his seventeen years, aged by whatever visions the Oracle gave to him.

"Tell us the prophecy, Luke," Chiron prodded, gazing out over the assembled campers.

Luke took in a shuddering breath, and hesitantly began, "You will go west to the daughters of Night, their garden safeguarding the god's delight. A choice at the crossroads will seal your fate, the entrance to find before it's too late. A pact-"

I don't know how it happened, but I stood up before he could finish the prophecy, my mouth forming the words that were etched into my brain. "A pact in revenge, unbalance will cease, and…" I trailed off once I realized what had happened, blushing furiously. The sea of faces around me were shocked and amazed with one exception – Chiron raised an eye curiously at my outburst.

"Go on, Miss Black," the centaur said flatly, his scrutinizing stare boring into my soul. My sight flickered over to Luke, his face pale with recognition.

"…And blinded by love will choose war over peace," I finished, my heart sinking at the murmurs growing around me. My brain told my body to stop standing up like an idiot and sit back down, but something was blocking the connection. I kept standing rigidly as I tried to drown out the whispers around me.

Chiron cleared his throat noisily. "And how do you know that, Arian?" he asked, his voice rising above the whispers and culling them completely.

I didn't know it was possible, but I felt my cheeks get warmer as my blush returned with a vengeance. "A dream," I whispered, just loud enough to be heard. A trip to the Fields of Punishment in the Underworld would have been preferable to this embarrassment in my mind.

"A dream," Chiron echoed, letting out a deep sigh as if the words pained him. He turned towards Luke and I released a breath I didn't know that I was holding, "The prophecy says nothing about your companions, if you are to have any… I suggest you pick them wisely." Luke nodded weakly as he scanned the amphitheater. Once again, I tried to force myself to sit back down, but something kept my body standing upright.

Luke's gaze eventually found me, standing alone amidst the sea of faces. "Arian," he pronounced softly, "Will you come with me?" Every instinct in my head was screaming at me to just say no, to take the chance of living a little bit longer instead of becoming monster food. I tried to shake my head, to try and convey in some way that I thought that this quest was suicide, but once again I found myself unable to move. Finally, I managed a weak nod.

As soon as I moved, a flash of green light flickered in my peripheral vision. A new wave of murmurs erupted around me as I looked up to see a flaming emblem directly over my head: two crossed torches, the symbol of Hecate. I was too shocked to do anything more than curse the gods under my breath until the fiery cross faded out of existence.

Chiron cleared his throat, catching the attention of all in the amphitheater. He looked at me mournfully, as if he had just seen my epitaph carved into stone, and proclaimed, "Hail, Arian Black, daughter of Hecate, the Queen of Magic."

* * *

Needless to say, my return trip back to Cabin Eleven was a quiet one. All of the other campers seemed determined to avoid all contact with me at whatever cost – even my new friends in the Ares cabin were now going out of their way to evade me. I guess that the children of Hecate's reputation was alive and well here at Camp Half-Blood. I packed quickly and quietly, trying to ignore the whispers coming from my former cabin mates. Somehow, I got the feeling that I wouldn't be coming back here for a while.

"Luke better watch his back with that one," a girl whispered, trying to be discreet but failing miserably, "He should've picked someone else that he can trust." I suppressed a snort – trust went a long ways with the children of Hermes, god of thieves.

"She's probably already cast a spell on him – that's why he picked her!" another girl chimed in. This time I didn't bother hiding the eye roll. If these two idiots knew anything about magic, they'd know that it would take an extremely powerful caster to change the will of the intended victim. It was far easier to make an enchantment feed off of emotions or intentions that were already there, meaning that I couldn't have made Luke choose me unless he was already intending to do it anyway. That thought made me feel a little better as I stuffed my belongings into my bag carelessly, intending to organize it later.

I shouldered my blue bag, now full of my possessions, and checked that all of my charms were secure around my wrist. The gossiping campers shot me dirty looks as I passed, but I ignored those as well. If there was one thing that every magic user learned early on, it was that you can't change a person's deepest feelings in their soul. That was probably why most of Hecate's children, myself included, didn't give our trust easily – we had been betrayed too many times.

When I left the Hermes cabin, Luke was nowhere to be found, so I headed in the direction of the Big House. Hopefully Chiron would have some sage words of wisdom that he could impart to guide us in the right direction. The old centaur didn't seem to be too pleased at the moment… I wonder why.

I made it as far as the volleyball courts when I was bowled over by two speedy flashes of fur, knocking me into the sandy ground. When I opened my eyes, it was to a very smelly polecat chittering angrily in my face.

"Ew, Gale, get off!" I grumbled, sitting up and taking stock of my injuries. I might have a goose egg on the back of my head, but nothing that wouldn't heal quickly. My eye was still bruised from the black eye I had the day before, making me wince when I touched it.

Hecuba, the main culprit in knocking me over, sat impatiently beside me and nudged me with her nose. "What do you want?" I asked crossly, not completely willing to forgive her for taking me down. Whoever said that dogs are innocent creatures flat-out lied. Hecuba let out a short bark, then dashed off in the direction of Thalia's pine on Half-Blood Hill. Gale nipped at my heels, probably saying something that wasn't very nice in polecat. I could rarely understand her, but it was generally safe to assume that the former witch was spewing something nasty at you.

"Fine, I'll follow you," I griped, shouldering my bag as I righted myself, "Just stop biting already." Satisfied with her efforts, Gale ran off after Hecuba, disappearing over the hillcrest. I trailed behind them, tamping down the unease and uncertainty building in my stomach.

* * *

 **Please review! Hopefully I'll have another chapter up in a week or so.**


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